Monroe-Woodbury school board ousts superintendent

CENTRAL VALLEY - The Monroe-Woodbury School Board announced Thursday that it had canceled Superintendent Ed Mehrhof’s contract, giving no indication why it had done so.

The vote evidently was taken at a special meeting held at 7:30 a.m. Thursday, according to the district’s calendar, although little information was given about it. In a two-paragraph statement released just after 4:30 p.m., the board said it made the decision after “a lengthy process,” and had appointed Elsie Rodriguez, the district’s assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction, as Mehrhof’s temporary replacement.

“The Board cannot specifically comment on the reasons why it has reached this determination, but is confident that it has been taken in the best interests of the Monroe-Woodbury community,” the statement read.

Mehrhof will continue to be paid while he appeals his firing, according to the statement. As of last year, his salary was slightly less than $200,000.

Mehrhof, who came to Monroe-Woodbury as an assistant superintendent seven years ago, has been superintendent since 2010, when he replaced Joseph DiLorenzo. A divided board voted 5-4 last year to extend his contract through July 2015, with an option to renew it for another year beyond that.

Reached by phone Thursday morning, Mehrhof said he had heard informally that he had been suspended, but had gotten no official notification of the board’s action or statement of allegations from the district. He said he was not at work Thursday for personal reasons.

“I haven’t been notified of charges,” he said. “I haven’t been notified of anything.”

He questioned the board’s decision to oust him in the midst of positive results. He cited voters’ overwhelming approval of a $156.6 million budget proposal on Tuesday, the modest tax and spending increases in that plan, and recent academic and athletic achievements.

“I don’t understand why the board would take such a sudden, arbitrary and capricious action,” he said.

He couldn’t be reached later in the afternoon to comment on the terse board statement. His district-provided cell phone had been deactivated.